Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been accused of “blatantly” copying the winner of the BNB Chain hackathon after launching Bicasso, an AI-based non-fungible token (NFT) creation tool. Binance allegedly stole the tool created by Chatcasso just two months after winning the first prize at the BNB Chain Hackathon in Seoul on December 17-19, 2022.
On March 1, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ” announced the launch of Bicasso, an artificial intelligence (AI) product that can be used to “transform your creative vision into NFTs through AI.” However, community member “ggoma” believes that Binance copied and promoted the Chatcasso project as its own.
Binance, on the other hand, has denied the allegations of plagiarism. In an interview with Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for Binance said that Bicasso is an experimental project established by a small team at Binance as a test, and that NFT and AI are concepts jointly researched by many industry participants.
Chatcasso Wins 1st Prize at BNB Chain Hackathon for Creating AI Tool for Creating NFTs, Receives $5,000 in Binance Dollars. However, ggoma was shocked that Binance launched a similar platform within two months, saying: “A big company like Binance copying everything down to the name? It’s not only unethical, but it’s also confusing for users. The names are so similar that it’s hard to tell them apart.” Additionally, ggoma shared screenshots of both projects to demonstrate the similarities between the user interface and functionality.
Additionally, Binance and BNB Chain operate separately, and the Binance development team does not participate in the BNB Chain hackathon, the spokesperson said.
Binance clarified to Cointelegraph that the name Bicasso was inspired by the OpenAI tool “Dall-E,” a reference to artist Salvador Dali, adding, “Our team loves the concept.”
The whole incident made ggoma skeptical about participating in future hackathons, as he wondered if market leaders would rebrand innovative ideas at a later stage. “We hope Binance realizes the impact of their actions and takes steps to correct their mistakes,” added ggoma, while warning developers that “some companies will try to take advantage of your hard work.” Binance’s Bicasso became an instant hit among NFT investors as the AI-powered NFT generator logged 10,000 minting in 2.5 hours. CZ recently warned investors that a Photoshop image with misinformation was circulating on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. CZ further emphasized the importance of alleviating fear, uncertainty and doubt, advising investors to ignore the occasional false accusation.
